I recently purchased an Athearn Genesis 4-8-2 Mountain locomotive (HO of course). It has a Soundtraxx Tsunami "Heavy" locomotive sound decoder in it, according to David at Athearn. The volume of the bell is fine, but I cannot get the volume of the whistle louder. I have spent at least an hour and a half on the phone with "George" at Soundtraxx in Durango. We have done everything possible changing the CV values, etc, including setting the sound CV at 255, and still, the whistle volume is so low you can barely hear it. Can someone tell me what is wrong with it and what can be done to get the volume louder?
P.S. I have 8 Spectrum steam locomotives with Tsunami sound decoders in them and the whistle volume is just fine in all of them, same with my 2 Broadway Limited, 2 Blueline, and 1 MTH steam locomotives.
A defective decoder maybe? RON
Maybe change CV115 to a different whistle and see what happens?
Please pardon my ignorance, but when did Athearn come out with a 4-8-2? The only Genesis steamers of which I am aware are a Mike and a Pacific (both USRA Light versions.).
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timber2 I recently purchased an Athearn Genesis 4-8-2 Mountain locomotive (HO of course). It has a Soundtraxx Tsunami "Heavy" locomotive sound decoder in it, according to David at Athearn. The volume of the bell is fine, but I cannot get the volume of the whistle louder. I have spent at least an hour and a half on the phone with "George" at Soundtraxx in Durango. We have done everything possible changing the CV values, etc, including setting the sound CV at 255, and still, the whistle volume is so low you can barely hear it. Can someone tell me what is wrong with it and what can be done to get the volume louder? P.S. I have 8 Spectrum steam locomotives with Tsunami sound decoders in them and the whistle volume is just fine in all of them, same with my 2 Broadway Limited, 2 Blueline, and 1 MTH steam locomotives.
You have talked to George at Soundtraxx and he could not fix it, guess what, send it back to Athearn. It might be a loose speaker or a problem in the mounting which might limit the whistle sound since it is more complex than some of the other sounds. Check to see if other owners get the volume on the SP mountain. The same whistle on the AC12 from Intermoutain is fairly loud and it uses the same basic whistle so there might be a problem with your decoder or mounting of the speaker.
I would send it back for a replacement and get on with the fun of running the model
CZ
gmcrail Please pardon my ignorance, but when did Athearn come out with a 4-8-2? The only Genesis steamers of which I am aware are a Mike and a Pacific (both USRA Light versions.).
Athearn got their SP MT4 to the LHS recently. If you want one with the later modifications to the MT4, whey will be out this fall. This fall, they are producing the modified model with the sky line installed.
Click on the link below to see the model and a review.
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/loconews/athearn_mt4.htm
CAZEPHYRgmcrail Please pardon my ignorance, but when did Athearn come out with a 4-8-2? The only Genesis steamers of which I am aware are a Mike and a Pacific (both USRA Light versions.). Athearn got their SP MT4 to the LHS recently. If you want one with the later modifications to the MT4, whey will be out this fall. This fall, they are producing the modified model with the sky line installed. Click on the link below to see the model and a review. http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/loconews/athearn_mt4.htm CZ
Hmmm... Based on the review, I don't think it's going to be high on my must-get list.... I'm waiting for a review on the reissue of the light Pacific that they are supposed to be releasing under the Roundhouse name...
I agree with CAZEPHYR. If you talked to the soundtraxx rep and he couldnt' talk you through it, I doubt any of us can. As a last resort I'd do a decoder reset and see if it fixes it. If not send it back. I also didn't know that Athearn had any new steamers out.
Springfield PA
Send it back. You will find peace of mind.
Alton Junction
timber2I recently purchased an Athearn Genesis 4-8-2 Mountain locomotive (HO of course). It has a Soundtraxx Tsunami "Heavy" locomotive sound decoder in it, according to David at Athearn. The volume of the bell is fine, but I cannot get the volume of the whistle louder. I have spent at least an hour and a half on the phone with "George" at Soundtraxx in Durango. We have done everything possible changing the CV values, etc, including setting the sound CV at 255, and still, the whistle volume is so low you can barely hear it. Can someone tell me what is wrong with it and what can be done to get the volume louder? P.S. I have 8 Spectrum steam locomotives with Tsunami sound decoders in them and the whistle volume is just fine in all of them, same with my 2 Broadway Limited, 2 Blueline, and 1 MTH steam locomotives.
When you set, what you call the sound CV, was it CV 128 (master volume control) or CV 129 (whistle Mixer level)?
And as mentioned above, try another whistle (CV 115 and values between 0 and 7, depending on how many the decoder has). It could also be that the playable whistle is activated (CV 47) set it to 0 and see what happens.
If nothing works, and the problem doesn´t go away, it is a faulty decoder for sure.
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My MT-4 Genesis does the same thing in whistle volume. I had to turn the chuff sound down so it wouldn't drown out the whistle. I didn't try changing to a different whistle sound as the default/factory is correct for SP MTs.
stanbw
I also bought one of Athearn's new SP 4-8-2 locomotives and also have experienced poor sound with the whistle. I can get volumes on all other sounds good but the whistle sound is poor. I have cranked up the volume to the max on the whistle. Wondering if it is a decoder problem???
This is just the way it is with Tsunami, the whistles and horns (in the diesel decoders) just aren't loud. No matter how you adjust the mixer and equalizer. The best you can do is turn down the chuffs and crank up the whistle, but then the whole thing is quiet. It's not a defective decoder, it's not a broken speaker, not if the chuffs and bell and other sounds are workign fine.
Oh wait, there I go bashing Soundtraxx again - but there are at least two people in this thread experiencing the same thing. Am I making this up? Are they? I don't think so. Simple facts.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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The problem I have noticed with mine is the nature of the Vanderbilt tender just does not work as well as a speaker cabinet as a square one. The genesis UP FEF seems to be much louder and clearer. The challenger has even better sound.
SB
It is indeed possible to get decent sound from a Vanderbuilt tender. But it takes more effort.
My favorite two places to put the speaker are under the coal load, or to put a divider right in the middle of the tank where it's widest and mount the speaker on top. Then you have to play with the EQ settings on Tsunami.A lot of steam engines lose their whistle/bell at high speeds as the chuff drowns out the whistle/bell. I like to set my chuff at half volume and whistle bell at full.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!